Back in early March I posted a thread entitled “Fabrication of Replacement Bowl for Meerschaum Cheroot Pipe?” here on this Forum. I had recently picked up a nicely carved antique meerschaum cheroot pipe missing its removable bowl. The carving is really what had originally attracted me to the piece and I was prepared that I might just have to be happy displaying it "as is", but my real hope was to some day get it restored and actually smoke some cheroots out of it.
Literally within a few minutes of my post, Forum member @RustiePyles CPG replied asking me for more details about the pipe's measurements. I held out little hope that he would be able to put me in touch with someone who could/would take on an odd job like this. Imagine my surprise then when instead he said that he himself would be willing to take a shot and give the project a whirl if I would just send him the pipe to work on.
Well, to make a long story short, Fletch turned out a fitted replacement meerschaum bowl in record time. And not only that, he also specially ordered some tortoise acrylic rod material to fabricate a replacement stem with orific bit (the stem I had received with the pipe was not original and did not fit properly in the pipe's accompanying case).
Despite getting the pipe back from Fletch much quicker than expected, my first smoke of it languished for a while because (to be 100% honest) I dreaded having to sanitize it and kept putting that job off. Sorry about that, Fletch! My fears proved justified, however, as that task really lived up to its expectations. I don't think that pipe had been cleaned in close to 100 years, if ever! (Perhaps a slight exaggeration, but not much...)
Now the fun part. Last evening I finally got to smoke this pipe for the first time with a tasty Toscano Anno Domini 1492 cheroot (100% Kentucky filler and wrapper), an event that would not have been possible without the assistance and skill of @RustiePyles CPG
Thanks so much, Fletch – it is members like you who make this Forum what it is!
Some pics below...
Closeups of the carving, front and back (what attracted me to the pipe originally):
Pipe in its accompanying case (first pic as originally received, with missing bowl and ill-fitting stem; second pic as received back from Fletch):
Now the moment of truth:
Literally within a few minutes of my post, Forum member @RustiePyles CPG replied asking me for more details about the pipe's measurements. I held out little hope that he would be able to put me in touch with someone who could/would take on an odd job like this. Imagine my surprise then when instead he said that he himself would be willing to take a shot and give the project a whirl if I would just send him the pipe to work on.
Well, to make a long story short, Fletch turned out a fitted replacement meerschaum bowl in record time. And not only that, he also specially ordered some tortoise acrylic rod material to fabricate a replacement stem with orific bit (the stem I had received with the pipe was not original and did not fit properly in the pipe's accompanying case).
Despite getting the pipe back from Fletch much quicker than expected, my first smoke of it languished for a while because (to be 100% honest) I dreaded having to sanitize it and kept putting that job off. Sorry about that, Fletch! My fears proved justified, however, as that task really lived up to its expectations. I don't think that pipe had been cleaned in close to 100 years, if ever! (Perhaps a slight exaggeration, but not much...)
Now the fun part. Last evening I finally got to smoke this pipe for the first time with a tasty Toscano Anno Domini 1492 cheroot (100% Kentucky filler and wrapper), an event that would not have been possible without the assistance and skill of @RustiePyles CPG
Thanks so much, Fletch – it is members like you who make this Forum what it is!
Some pics below...
Closeups of the carving, front and back (what attracted me to the pipe originally):
Pipe in its accompanying case (first pic as originally received, with missing bowl and ill-fitting stem; second pic as received back from Fletch):
Now the moment of truth:
